The Colorado Mesa women's basketball team will close out 2020 with a pair of games on the road ahead of the NCAA mandated winter break. They will take on the Adams State Grizzlies on Friday in Alamosa before heading down the road to Pueblo for a bout with the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves.
 
WEEKEND RECAP
The Mavericks completed their first road trip of the season after traveling to Black Hills State and Chadron State, one of their longest road trips of the season. They came away with a 1-1 mark dropping the front end to the Yellow Jackets 60-50 before earning a big 78-28 win over Chadron State on the back end.
 
After leading for over 24 minutes in the game, Colorado Mesa fell to 3-5 all-time in Spearfish with the 60-50 setback. Natalie Bartle led the team with 16 points while Sierra McNicol finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
 
On the backend of the trip, the Maverick came away with one of their largest margin of victories in the last ten seasons after a 78-28 win over the Chadron State Eagles. Four players finished in double figures led by Kylyn Rigsby's 18 points.
 
BIG WIN
The Mavericks had a 50-point win over Chadron State on Saturday, 78-28 in Nebraska. It was just the second 50-point win in program history and the first against a RMAC opponent.
 
Check out the most recent 50-point or more wins for the program.
 
50+ Point Victories since 1992
67: Colorado Mesa 92, Univ. of the Southwest 25 (November 29, 2019)
63: Colorado Mesa 87, Hillsdale College 24 (November 23, 2012)
63: Colorado Mesa 98, Johnson & Wales 35 (November 22, 2003)
50: Colorado Mesa 78, Chadron State 28 (December 12, 2020)
50: Colorado Mesa 89, Colorado College 39 (November 17, 2010)
50: Colorado Mesa 83, Northern New Mexico 33 (November 30, 2009)
50: Colorado Mesa 71, Anderson 21 (November 24, 2000)
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
In the early portion of the season and without everyone competing, Colorado Mesa is among the tops in the nation when it comes to taking care of the ball. The Mavericks rank fourth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.45, trailing only Valdosta State who sits at 1.75.
 
Senior Kylyn Rigsby is third nationally in assist-to-turnover at 5.33.
 
In turnovers per game, Colorado Mesa ranks second nationally averaging 11 turnovers per game trailing only Colorado School of Mines who is in at 10 turnovers per game.
 
RIM PROTECTOR
Senior Kelsey Siemons has climbed into the top three in blocked shots in program history after adding four blocks over the weekend. The Tucson native has 109 blocks in her career and is just five short of Lindsay Clegg on the all-time list. Everyone trails Susan Luecke (1996-00) who finished her stellar career with 272 blocks.
 
All-Time Blocked Shots Leaders
272: Susan Luecke (1996-00)
114: Lindsay Clegg (1998-01)
109: Kelsey Siemons (2017-current)
94: Erika Musante (2011-16)
80: Megan Langstaff (2001-05)
 
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Head coach Taylor Wagner preaches defense from day one year in and year out. The Mavericks have done a pretty solid job so far this season allowing opponents to just 51.5 points per game, which ranks fifth nationally. They have also limited teams to shoot just 32 percent from the floor, also fifth nationally.
 
HISTORY AND SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State enters the weekend with a 1-1 record having defeated travel partner CSU Pueblo 62-61 in the opener and falling to South Dakota Mines this past weekend 70-57. The Grizzlies are much improved since last season and are hungry for some payback against the Mavericks.
 
Colorado Mesa is on a 17-game win streak against Adams State that dates back to the 2011 season. Last season, the Mavericks won both matchups by an average of 18.5 points per game.
 
The Grizzlies feature one of the tallest players in the RMAC in Idaho State transfer Kaitlyn Bell who stands at 6-4. She averages eight points and 10.5 rebounds through the first two games of the year.
 
HISTORY WITH THE THUNDERWOLVES
CSU Pueblo has played just one game up to this point in the season with New Mexico Highlands canceling their season and having to postpone their game with UCCS. They fell in their lone game to travel partner Adams State 62-61 on a last second basket.
 
The Mavericks and ThunderWolves have had see-saw battles through the years with the Mavericks winning three of the last five matchups including a 91-56 win in 2017 when the ThunderWolves were ranked fifth nationally.
 
Junior Janaiya Davis returns for her junior season and is poised to breakout after earning All-RMAC second team honors a year ago. She tallied 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the opening game.
 
HEAD MAN
Head coach Taylor Wagner enters his ninth season as the head of the women's basketball program. He has led the program to five RMAC regular season championships and five NCAA South Central Region Tournaments. The Mavericks won the regional tournament in his first season (2012-13) sending the program to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time.
 
In three of the five regional tournaments, the Mavericks have made it past the first round and have accrued a NCAA Tournament record of 6-4 during the Wagner era.
 
MILESTONE HUNTING
Colorado Mesa will be looking to give head coach Taylor Wagner his 200^th win as a Maverick. Through four games this season, his record now sits at 197-47 (.807) in his eight years and includes a 147-33 record in RMAC competitions.
 
In his time, he has led the Mavericks to a 30-win season twice and have had four 20-win seasons.
 
FREE YEAR
With uncertainty rampant during the college basketball season this year, the NCAA granted all winter sports student athletes (Basketball, Wrestling, Indoor Track, Swimming & Diving) an extra year of eligibility similar to what took place during the fall season with football, volleyball, soccer and cross country.
 
What does that mean to the Mavericks women's basketball team? All eight seniors could return for a fifth year of eligibility if they would like to.
 
THE RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will look a little different this year in terms of the standings. With every team not able to play the same amount of games this year, the conference decided to implement the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) or Performance Indicator (PI) to determine the standings this year.
 
Here is a quick rundown of how the RPI or PI works:

• Teams will earn points based on their opponent and whether they win or lose each week. The better the opponent the more points you earn whether you win or lose.
• The breaks for opponents occur at .250, .500 and .750 winning percentages and can change all year long.
• Once a team has their points, they will be divided by the number of games that have been played this year to get their RPI or PI number.
• The highest RPI or PI will be the conference champion.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will come back from break and get about six practices in before taking on UCCS at home in Brownson Arena on January 4. That weekend, on January 9, they will get a rematch with Black Hills State in Grand Junction.
 
QUICK HITTERS
*The hope is to have fans after the first of the year but is still really tentative at this point. Stay tuned to CMUMavericks.com and social media (twitter and facebook) for updates.
 
*Saturday's basketball game will be broadcast on 1100 KNZZ due to the Denver Broncos playing on Saturday evening this week.